TheCable

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says Nigeria has the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in Africa.

Faisal Shuaib, executive director of NPHCDA, stated this at the media briefing of the presidential steering committee (PSC) on COVID-19 in Abuja on Monday.

TheCable has not independently verified the NPHCDA’s claim.

According to Shuaib, an average of 87,000 people are being vaccinated daily in Nigeria.

He said with the figure, Nigeria has surpassed Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, and Senegal in its vaccination rate in the continent.

“You may recall that a total of 4,024,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine were received by the federal government of Nigeria in March 2021 —3.924 million through the COVAX facility and another 100,000 doses from the government of India,” he said.

“I am glad to inform you that 3,441,146 doses have so far been utilised for the first and second dose vaccinations, which is approximately 88 percent of the total AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine stock in the country.

“As at today, the breakdown of the number of people vaccinated and the vaccine consumption is as follows: 2,265,805 people vaccinated with the first dose; 1,175,341 people vaccinated with the second dose — 88 percent vaccine doses have been used.

“Based on these data and comparative information from other countries, Nigeria continues to have the highest vaccination rates in Africa with approximately 87,000 people being vaccinated daily.

“Egypt, South Africa, Ghana and Senegal each have a daily vaccination rate of 72,000, 52,600, 12,100 and 4,790, respectively.”

While speaking on the disbursement of available doses, Shuaib said there is no vaccine in the country with the expiration date of June 28, that has not been utilised.

“Again, this is to demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that only safe and potent COVID-19 vaccines are administered to Nigerians,” he added.